Page 139 of Don't Believe A Word

As the line went dead Cristy looked at the others, feeling as mystified and disturbed by the call as she could see they were.

‘She’s clearly completely lost it,’ Clove said quietly.

Cristy nodded. ‘When I spoke to Sadie last night she told me this was happening and it’s upsetting her quite a lot. The ridiculous part of it is that she’s as afraid of her aunt as Mia now seems to be of her, which is why I suggested David should be there when they meet.’

‘Is Sadie up for that?’ Jacks asked.

Cristy nodded. ‘So’s David, it’s just a matter of getting Mia to open the door.’ To Connor she said, ‘Did you manage to record any of that?’

He nodded. ‘Most of it. Do you want to send it to Sadie?’

‘It won’t be anything she hasn’t already heard, but I think we should.’

An hour later, having listened to the playback, Sadie came through on FaceTime looking tense and pale. ‘I don’t know if you want to get my response on record,’ she said, ‘but if you do, I’ve already prepared something that I can read out.’

As Connor hit the right buttons and Clove got ready to make notes, Cristy said, ‘Where are you?’

‘At home. Dad and Jasper are with me. We went down there a few minutes ago to try again, but everything’s bolted from the inside and she didn’t even answer when we called out.’

‘We saw her watching us from an upstairs window,’ Jasper added.

Faintly spooked by that, Cristy said, ‘OK, we’re recording now.’

SADIE: ‘I’ve made four or five attempts to see my aunt since the last episode about my mother coming to Guernsey was dropped, but without any success. I’ve no idea if she’s heard it, but I think she probably has and that’s why she won’t see me. She’s managed to convince herself that I’m blaming her for what happened, but as I keep telling her, I don’t blame her for anything, and all I want now is to move on with my life. Having said that, it’s not my intention simply to abandon her; she isn’t getting any younger and nor is she in great health, so it would be cruel of me to carry on now as if she never mattered at all. She did matter, a great deal, and she still does. You can’t just wipe out all the good someone has done in your life, as if it never happened, especially not when there has been a lot of good. So I want her to understand that we – I’m speaking for my father and uncle now as well – wish her no harm and we never will.’

CRISTY: ‘When you went to see her earlier, did she realize that the man with you was your father?’

SADIE: ‘I’m not sure, but I thought, if she met him and saw for herself just how gentle he is she’d be more likely to let us in.’

CRISTY: ‘Will you try again?’

SADIE: ‘Of course. I have no plans to leave Guernsey yet, and I certainly won’t without seeing her first. Dad, Lukas and Evie are flying back at the weekend and Jasper’s goingwith them to look at a few job opportunities that Lukas is setting up for him.’

CRISTY: ‘So your long-term goal is to relocate?’

SADIE: ‘I think so. We’ll need a fresh start after all that’s happened, I just want to be sure that Mia is properly cared for before I go and that might take a while. It doesn’t matter though, there’s no rush, and obviously I’ll come back to visit on a regular basis.’

CONNOR: ‘So when do you intend to try seeing her again?’

SADIE: ‘Are you asking because you’d like me to record it?’

CONNOR: ‘I confess it did cross my mind.’

SADIE: ‘I’ll do my best, and if I can’t do it myself I’m sure David will help out. He’s bringing Cynthia over in the morning. It’s possible Mia might be more willing to open up if she’s there too.’

CRISTY: ‘Just to explain, David and Cynthia are good friends and long-time neighbours in Guernsey.’

CONNOR: ‘OK, well, let us know how it goes and if anything happens in the meantime, you know where we are.’

SADIE: ‘Thanks – and thanks too for all the support you’ve given me throughout this. I feel as though you guys are more like friends now than anything else.’

CRISTY: ‘We’re OK with that, and obviously really glad we were able to play a part in helping you to find out who you really are.’

After the call was over and the recording checked, Cristy sat back in her chair and said thoughtfully, ‘That could be a sign-off for the last episode.’

‘Just what I was thinking,’ Connor agreed. To Jacks he said, ‘Bookmark it for a quick find. Any thoughts, Clove?’

Looking up from her notes, she said, ‘Not about Sadie’s input, but I’m worried that airing anything Mia said just now isgoing to be considered exploitation of someone with profound mental health issues. Something like that could backfire on us horribly.’